A miniature of Boeing 737-800 aircarft is seen during a signing ceremony for the Boeing sale of twenty 737-800 aircraft to Panama's Copa airlines at the Department of Commerce in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2010. (Photo : JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

FlightStats Inc., a US-based flight-tracking service firm, recently came out with its 2015 report of the world’s most punctual major airlines. A few notable Latin American airlines made the exclusive and coveted list.

Wall Street Journal noted that Japan Airlines was the No. 1 most punctual major airliner in 2015, with almost nine out of every 10 of its flights arriving at their respective destinations on time during the past year. Meanwhile, 89.4 percent of the 270,685 JAL flights in 2015 reached their destinations within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

JAL reportedly made the most punctual list for the fifth time since 2009. According to JAL, its punctuality was borne out of the cooperation between its passengers and the entire company. The company requested passengers taking domestic flights to pass through customs at least 15 minutes before their scheduled time of departure. JAL also asked its passengers to come to the boarding gate 10 minutes before takeoff. Passengers who were not at the gate at least 10 minutes before departure were not allowed to board the aircraft at all.

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Spain-based Iberia was the second most punctual major airliner in the past year. 88.9 percent of their flights reached their destinations on time.

At No. 3 is All Nippon Airways of Japan, with a rating of 88.8 percent.

Among the 12 major North American carriers, Alaska Airlines was the most punctual, with an 86 percent rating.

TRBusiness reported that OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd., a top air travel intelligence firm, also featured a similar report in January 2016, called the “Punctuality League 2015.” The list showed the most on-time airlines and airports in the world, according to 50m data records.

Latvia’s AirBaltic was at No. 1 again, with an average on-time performance (OTP) rating of 94.39 percent. At No. 2 is Copa Airlines of Panama with a rating of 91.69 percent. Azul, a low-cost carrier (LCC) from Brazil, was third with a 91.03 percent rating. In the LCC group, Latin America dominated with Azul at No. 1 and Gol Airlines at No. 3, with an 86.45 percent rating. Norwegian was second with an 86.67 percent rating.

OAG listed Tokyo Haneda as the top large airport of 2015 with a 91.25 percent rating. Munich was in second place with 87.71 percent, while Sao Paulo Guarulhos was third with 87.47 percent. In the medium category, Copenhagen was at the top with 88.53 percent, while Moscow and Helsinki were in second and third place, with a rating of 88.53 percent and 88.48 percent, respectively. The best small airports in terms of punctuality were Osaka ITM with 93.85 percent, followed by Brussels South Charleroi with 93.61 percent and Panama City with 92.55 percent.